Kitty
by Basched
Summary: A little girl attaches herself to Colonel John Casey. Now he has to protect her and find out where she comes from. Dedicated to Raevon. Will eventually contain Jellie.  How could it not?
1. Kitty

_Author's Note: Dedicated for Raevon. A Casey centric fic that will include some Jellie later on (DUH of course it should!) I came up with this silly little idea after watching Monster's Inc and thought just what would John Casey do if he was left with a little toddler to look after? :) Will include some references to the Pixar film, but I also plan to have a plot of my own! Chuck stylee! _

_So do enjoy. This is not beta'd so all screw ups are my own. _

_I do not own Casey (WHY! I can be good to him! and bad...) or any of the characters from Chuck or Disney Pixar's Monsters Inc. _

* * *

><p>"<strong>Kitty!" <strong>

"Casey! Buddy!"

Being called "Buddy" usually meant bad news for the NSA Colonel who smiled and said goodbye to the customer he had just helped serve a Beast master to. When the "Buddy!" cried out again, John Casey muttered angrily under his breath and turned to face the problem head on, with a scowl he hoped would send the moron in the other direction, away from him.

Charles Bartowski came rushing up to him with his usual goofy grin on his face, despite that he was more than a half decent spy. In his hand were some papers. He flapped them annoyingly in John's face and the growl Casey gave back didn't even deter him.

Chuck wasn't scared by his threats nearly as often now. He had to do something about that.

"Buddy! I need a favour! Can you file these install papers for me? I'm finishing early today…IE…now…because of the big date with Sarah! I'm running late, so I don't have time to do it myself. Big Mike will not be happy if they're not done. So the pink copies go to accounting at Head Office, fuchsia is filed in the big green folder and the gold coloured ones go to Big Mike! Leave the puce! Thanks Casey! I owe you one!"

Before John could threaten the Intersect with the necessary removal of his man parts or ask what was puce, Chuck thrusted the papers directly into his hand and ran off.

Casey took only a moment to calm down and then realized he was standing looking a little bewildered in the middle of the Buy More. Some passing customers looked at him in a strange manner but they too ignored him and so reluctantly Casey headed out the back to file away Bartowski's papers.

The stock room was, as usual, a mess. He had made it spotless only a few hours before and it was so tidy that dust would never dream of settling in here again. The Buy Morons had somehow screwed up his system and ruined it all, which was typical. The cage was a tip with broken computers all scattered over the floor. He wasn't going to start tidying up again, because in a few hours' time, his own shift will have finished.

As he walked over to the shelf filled with folders and misplaced papers, and for a brief moment he paused. Casey smiled at the thought of his impending free time away from the Buy More, it was not often he got invited round Eleanor Bartowski's apartment but she had requested his presence to try a new dish. Being in good company and with excellent food would be a welcome end to his day.

He pulled the green folder from the shelf and watched a load of papers fall to the floor as the broken clips in the folder couldn't hold them in place. He looked down at a couple in particular and raised an eye brow.

_"So that's what puce looks like. Huh." _

He was about to pick them all up when a tiny sound from within the stacked boxes made him become alert. His hand reached for his gun at the back of his pants and he listened for further sounds.

It came again, a scraping and shuffling near the stored washing machines made him pull out his gun and he stealthily crept towards them. He scanned the room, in case he was mistaken or whoever it was had moved and he sided up beside the boxes. Casey flattened his back against them and checked that his gun was loaded and ready. He listened once more.

There was a pop, pop, pop. It was the sound of bubble wrap being played with.

Several morons in this place liked to burst the plastic air bubbles, yet he recalled that Morgan and those few individuals were still out on the shop floor.

Casey took a couple of breaths and then came from behind the washing machines, his gun pointing at, what he hoped, was an intruder.

All there was was a bundle of bubble wrap. Casey scowled.

There was another sound, a clatter of DVD cases behind him.

Casey spun round and headed over to the DVDs, determined to find out who the hell was playing around. There was no one there.

His patience was wearing thin.

Casey once again looked round the storage area, listening but finding nothing. He was about to pick his phone from his pocket and call Walker, when he got the sensation that he was being watched.

There was no sense of danger, Casey could feel it. Whoever was in here, was not a threat and wouldn't be carrying a gun. These "senses" didn't happen all the time, but when he felt no threat, Casey was usually right. He put the gun away, tucking it securely in the waistband of his slacks and when another scan of the room failed to reveal anything, there was only one more option.

He looked down.

"LOOK-IT!"

John's eyes widened in shock and he staggered back and away from the tiny toddler gazing up at him with wide eyes and a big happy grin. He hadn't been expecting a little kid, but seeing her there, tugging on one of her ebony pig tails and waving a chubby little hand at him, made Casey recoil in surprise.

He impacted with the wall behind him and for a moment was speechless before the girl.

She was very small, tiny, her long black hair was scrunched up into two ponytails either side of her head and she wore a pink dress and white sandals. She was looking up at Casey with adoring brown eyes and jiggling on the spot with her arms open wide. She was laughing, and muttering incomprehensible words and she was obviously wanting Casey to pick her up.

Casey wasn't good with kids. Yeah he had one of his own, but she was over twenty years old and could speak quite clearly. He never saw Alex when she was this age_-this kid was-what?-two or three years old?-_he never even knew of Alex until last year, and he was uncomfortable with her as an adult.

How was he supposed to behave with this one?

Who was she?

How did this girl get back here and where the hell are her parents?

"Na-nah-na!" the girl was really wanting that hug. Casey didn't do hugs very well.

He got his phone and was about to call Walker when he felt the tiny thing impact with his leg and wrap her arms around his calf. The squeeze she gave him wasn't strong but it sure was uncomfortable for him. The girl hugged his leg and then rubbed her cheek against the material of his pants, humming pleasantly. Casey lifted his leg to try and get her to let go, but instead he only lifted her up off the ground and made her laugh again.

"Kid…let go!" he growled. The vocalization made her laugh even more, high pitched and squealing and it made Casey frown. "What you doing here? Where's your mom?"

He gave his leg a shake but it was only when he put his foot back down that she released her grip. However the girl opened her arms wide, wanting to be picked up.

Casey growled again, however it was more of an uncomfortable purr and the sound seemed to fascinate the girl. She glared up at him with an open mouth and blinked a couple of times before letting out another laugh. She jumped up and down waving her hands and clapping them with absolute glee.

"Kitty!"

_Huh? Hell no! Did she just call me kitty?_

"No! I ain't a…" Casey moved away from the boxes and edged backwards towards the door. The little girl followed him and he tried to move again, but she just scurried after him. She was persistent but then Casey was too. He got out his phone and pressed the speed dial.

"Walker! It's Casey."

_"Casey, is there a problem?"_

"Yeah there's a problem!" Casey edged towards the cage. "There's a kid in the Buy More."

There was silence on the other end of the phone and then in the back round Chuck's voice was clearly heard asking if Casey was being serious. The girl tried to grab at Casey's leg again, calling out for him in a jibber jabber of toddler speak, but Casey managed to avoid her and even shoved a few empty cardboard boxes in her way. She was curious at these obstacles at first but after nearly falling inside one and noting that they were empty, she put her focus back on Casey.

_"Casey, lots of kids go into the Buy More." _Sarah's voice said, rather loudly, but her attempt to hide Chuck's sniggering behind her wasn't fooling him. _"It's a family store." _

"Yeah, like I don't know that, Walker!" Casey looked down at the girl who was now chewing on a finger and dribbling a little. Casey's face screwed up with slight disgust. "I'm saying that there is a kid, female, IC1, approximately three years old, in the store room of the Buy More. Unsupervised! No sign of parents, no indication of where she came from!"

_"And you think she could be some kind of security threat to Chuck or to the country?" _

"Walker, I don't have time for your-!"

Walker controlled her mirth and cleared her throat.

_"Casey, she's probably a little girl who has wandered off from her parents and gotten lost. Have you taken her to the front of the store and looked for her parents?" _

"Er…no." Casey cursed himself. It was clearly the obvious thing to do. "I'll get on to it. You and Bartowski carry on with the rest of your date."

_"There's no need to be afraid. It's just a little girl."_

"I'm not afraid of little girls, Walker!

"Kitty! Um ba! Da da DA!"

Walker clearly heard the little girl's call for Casey and was now laughing as she tried to tell Chuck what had happened. Casey snarled and cut the call off.

Walker had been right. This little girl had wandered away whilst her parents weren't paying attention-damned idiots-and had gotten lost back here. It would be just a simple case of going to the front of the store and finding out who she belonged to.

There was no security threat or danger.

Casey decided that he would take her to the front of the store and use the intercom to find the parents. A lost child announcement should be easy enough.

He looked down and there was no sign of her. What the hell? He spun round only to glimpse a flash of pink scurry behind him again. He could hear her laughter and the slapping of her sandals on the floor, but when he turned, she disappeared from his sight again.

The three year old was running circles around him.

"Quit it!"

The sound of a wet blowing raspberry made Casey spin faster and finally he was able to snatch up the toddler by the scruff of her dress and lift her right up to his face. She cried out in elation, giggling and flapping her limbs, obviously thinking that she was flying.

"Right…let's get you to your folks."

"Ri dit! Wan ri dit!" The toddler blurted out something he couldn't quite make out from the laughing, but as she was still held in his hand, she was pointing at his back.

No. Casey shook his head and carried her out of the store room at arm's length.

No damned piggyback rides and definitely no hugs!

* * *

><p>There were no parents.<p>

After informing Big Mike and trying to off load the girl on some of the female members of staff (Bunny was not a good choice, she made the girl cry) he was lumbered with her. He stayed in the staff break room with her, growling at others as they laughed when the girl chased him around the tables. The call of "Kitty" was clearly hilarious to them, but they made no effort to help him or interfere.

The police were notified but it was hours before they eventually came and when they did, they weren't the "real" police.

Casey was backed up against the wall, squirming to keep the little girl from hugging and touching him, when at last the door opened. Casey knew instantly that they weren't normal police.

"Colonel."

The little girl looked at them and before Casey could get a hold of her, she ran behind him, wrapping her arms around his leg and murmuring a whine that indicated she didn't like them at all. Just like she did with everyone else.

"We've been ordered to take the girl." said one of the officers, bending down into a crouching position. She smiled and held her hand out towards the toddler, but the girl was having none of it. Her face smooched against Casey's legs and whined.

"Can I ask why you have been sent to collect the kid?" he asked, curiously. The two other agents looked at each other and then shook their heads.

"We're not at liberty to say, sir." the woman announced. "We've only been told to pick the child up and take her to her mother."

"And her mother is?"

"Someone important and whose identity needs to remain secret for the time being. If you doubt our intentions sir, here's our confirmation number. You can be assured this is real."

Casey did so. He took the card number from the second agent and used his mobile to confirm their identities and the code they gave him. When he was given the affirmative, telling him that this was something very serious, he nodded.

"Acknowledged. I'll let you have custody of her."

The little girl was important somehow. She was either the daughter of a dangerous criminal or the daughter of someone high up in the Government or Agency.

"Kitty!" Unlike the other times she had uttered this endearment, there was the sound of sadness and fear, her grasp on him was strong for a three year old and the attempts to unlatch her from him was met with screams and flaying kicks. "NAAAAAAAA!"

Three fully trained NSA agents were unable to get the child to stop crying. Eventually the girl was unlatched from Casey's calf and taken away. He could breathe, just for a moment and to help relieve his discomfort, Casey approached the drinks machine and gave it a sharp thump. He never needed money because even drinks machines were afraid of him.

The can of soda dropped down and Casey crouched to retrieve it. Seconds later he was sitting back in the chair sipping the cool refreshing drink and feeling the stress and worries of the little girl ebbing away.

How had Kathleen managed to bring up Alex on her own?

Regrets of not being there for Kathleen at the birth of their daughter pulled sharply and painfully at his chest. The regrets of not being there for either of them stirred up angry frustrations and so the empty soda can crumpled into virtually nothing in his hand.

He didn't care that when he lobbed it across the room, it impacted with the thick skull of Jeff as he came walking in the room. It rebounded off his forehead and the wall and dropped into the recycling bin.

Jeff didn't even realize that he had a mark on his forehead from the can and so instead he looked blankly at nothing before tilting his head up at the ceiling. Jeff then proceeded to look everywhere except in Casey's direction, trying and failing, to determine where the projectile had come from. When it became obvious that Jeff wasn't going to figure it out, he then ambled over to the drinks machine and began fishing about in his pockets for some money.

Moron.

Casey looked at the clock on the wall and a satisfied sigh emanated from his lungs and mouth when at last his shift had come to an end. He could finally go home, relax and spend the evening with Ellie and her wonderful cooking. Hmmm!

Though, unbeknown to him, a stowaway slipped into his car and came back to Echo Park with him.

Tbc…


	2. Ga de doe!

_Author's Note: Oh dear gods, I haven't posted up the chapters to this story in ages! I completely forgot! I haven't posted anything up to in a long while either. Well I'm doing so now, starting with the a little piece of my Kitty fic that I originally wrote as a small comment!fic on LJ. This takes place whilst Casey is still looking after the little girl, so during chapter 1. This story is dedicated to my good friend Raevon._

_A Casey version of the Sully and Boo toilet scene. _

_Not beta'd. I don't own any of the characters except this little girl. _

_Enjoy. _

* * *

><p>"What?!"<p>

There was still no sign of the parents or the police. Time was running out, and so was John Casey's patience. He was not good with children, he didn't want to be good with children or deal with the way they dribbled and cried and did childish things. But this was a US citizen and he had to protect her…he couldn't possibly abandon this child…even to the likes of the other Buy More staff.

Now…he had to deal with a new thing this girl was doing. He didn't like it…it was very ominous. The way she was clenching her legs together, her little hands clutching at the folds of her dress…he didn't like the way she was hopping from one foot to another or the look of desperation on her face. Her little squeaks and wails said all too clearly what was wrong.

She needed to do some business.

"Don't you have one of them diaper things? Go if you need to go!" he growled. The girl shook her head and moaned pleadingly at Casey. "You need the toilet?"

"YEAA!" One tiny teeny hand let go of her dress and flapped in the air, beckoning him to take hold and lead her away. "Kitty day me! Pweea?!"

"You're trained to use the head, take yourself!" he said, ignoring the mean looks he got from a couple of the female green shirts when they came into the room. A snarl and a clear view of his clenching fist soon sent them away. That didn't solve the problem of the girl and her need to use the toilet.

She looked extremely desperate and judging the distance of the female staff toilets, there was no way that the little girl was going to be able to get there on time. He had to take her.

Casey scooped the girl up with one hand, holding onto her by the straps of her dress. He supported the whimpering child by sitting her in his other hand as he rushed out of the canteen. She was tense, so tense and her cries were getting more and more desperate. The female rest room was too far away.

* * *

><p>The door crashed open.<p>

"Get out! All of you!" Casey's barking voice was enough to get the three men jumping away from the urinals and running out of the toilets in a frantic rush as they did up their flies. Casey sneered at them and then at the state of the men's toilets. Thank fully the little girl didn't need to use the urinals so he inspected the cubicles. Jeff's office wasn't being used, but Casey reminded himself that one day he would get rid of it. That was a waste of an extra toilet.

Casey found an adequate cubicle—one that was the cleanest—and set the jiggling toddler down next to the porcelain lavatory. She didn't make any attempt to go about her business. She carried on hopping.

"There! Go already." Casey snapped and jabbed his finger at the toilet. He then put down the seat and pointed again, gesturing that he did such a nice thing for her.

"Doe de doe!" She pointed at the door.

"Ah! Of course. My apologies." Casey understood. Of course, she didn't need him watching and staring at her in her private moment. He didn't exactly want to watch either. He nodded and then closed the door, standing directly outside like a sentinel.

There was some furious scrambling, a few grunts of effort as the girl got up onto the toilet and then a long high pitched exclamation of "Eeew!"

"This is the gents. What do you expect, kid? Suck it up and go."

"Ba kitty! Ga de doe!"

He was being ordered about by a kid? Casey huffed angrily, crossed his arms across his chest and waited. Several of the men came back in, even Lester tried to, but one look at the very angry Casey made them turn back round again.

Then…just as the light tinkling sound of urination began, the little girl began to sing. It was a typically girly and kid like song, sung in gibberish and meant absolutely nothing. She was making it up as she went along and Casey suspected that she was singing so he didn't have to listen to her tinkle, which he was thankful for.

That was until he realised that a good deal of time had gone by. The girl was peeing rather a lot and the singing was becoming even more garbled. Casey began to grind his teeth.

At last, the girl's singing words broke up into single words before….silence. There was no more singing…no more tinkling. Only silence. He didn't hear anything. No rustle of toilet paper or sound of her getting off the toilet. But she must have finished!

"Are you all done in there?" he asked. No answer. Casey took it upon himself to gently ease open the door to peer inside.

The high pitched scream made the Marine jump back in utter shock.

"EEEENAHHH!"

The pushing force on the door of the cubicle slammed it back, nearly catching his fingers. Casey almost cursed out a word and several phrases he used for Chuck or one of the other Buy Morons, but when the sweet little singing started up again he kept his mouth shut.

Colonel John Casey knew that if Chuck or Sarah found out, he would never hear the end of it.

"Ah dun, Kitty!"

The toilet flushed and the door opened before two little hands tugged at the bottom of his trousers.


	3. Kitty 2

_Author's Note: Thought I'd better post last year's chapter up here. I'm so sorry for those who were reading and interested, I completely forgot as RL just took over. I hope you like this next edition of my Kitty story. Not beta'd so there will be mistakes. _

_Dedicated to Raevon. _

* * *

><p>The Crown Vic pulled in to the parking lot of Echo Park and Casey placed her gently into his designated spot. He sat in the front seat for a few moments, contemplating over the child and how different his day could have been if those agents hadn't come and taken her away.<p>

He felt such relief. Casey was not babysitting material, he wouldn't have been good for the kid, so it was all for the best.

Tonight Casey was going to spend an evening with some good food and good company. Ellie Bartowski had insisted upon him coming over and he certainly wasn't going to argue. He loved her cooking and meal times with her were a sought after experience, as was the end of the meal.

He always finished eating first, Casey made sure of it, mainly so he could watch her eat. Eleanor Bartowski was an entrancing woman but when she chewed or savoured food, she made these sounds that sounded divine. He could hear her now.

It sounded like…. like a child's laughter?

"Oh no!"

The experienced Marine, the NSA agent hadn't noticed the girl in his rear view mirror before, but she was there now, smiling and waving and stomping her shoes on his upholstery!

"NO! No! No! NO!"

The little girl was giggling excessively and pure panic soared through him. Casey turned round in the seat and made a grab for the girl, but she carried on laughing and dodged him easily.

Her scrambling feet over the seats, her high pitched elation and raspberry-like spitting had him in turmoil. Casey had faced off the world's most deadly assassins, he had killed men and women, he had done things that no one else would dare and had been unafraid. Yet this little girl was scaring him immensely.

"Quit it! Come here!"

She didn't. Little girls didn't respond to verbal commands he found. So there was no other option. He pressed a button underneath the dash and the mini-computer terminal slid out of concealment. He inputted his code and pressed the screen.

The prisoner containment activated. The doors locked and the sound proofing screen whipped up, separating the front from the back. Instantly the screaming stopped, which was a huge relief, but she was still jumping on the seats and smearing her fingers all over the windows.

Casey grabbed his phone and dialed for help.

Help didn't come quickly enough as the little girl then pressed her face against the soundproof screen and began to blow raspberries on it.

"Yo! Casey! What's so important that my date with Sarah…." Chuck's voice trailed off as he saw the child waving to him from the back seat. "Okay, Casey… why have you arrested the little girl? Did she steal your sweeties?"

"Can it, Bartowski." Casey got out of the car. The little girl watched him intently, with a little apprehension. "Take the kid back to your place. I need to call in and let our superiors know we have her."

"Huh?"

"Clean your ears out and take the girl inside, moron! She is apparently the daughter of someone very special or dangerous and we have to keep her safe until agents can retrieve her. Take her back to your place!"

"But Casey, Sarah and I are having a date! We can't look after her!"

"Too bad!" Casey unlocked the back door, but paused before opening it. He took a few deep breaths and looked down at the child, who was beaming happily up at him.

"Are you going to open the door, Casey?" Chuck asked, smiling smugly.

"I'm being cautious."

"Er…it's a child, not a violent criminal."

The warning growl made Chuck step away but it didn't stop the young Intersect agent from smirking.

Casey slowly opened the door, but the little girl was pushing back, squeaking with effort. She slipped from the Crown Vic and immediately latched onto one of Casey's legs.

"Kitty!" The girl rubbed her face against his calf.

There was a snort of laughter from Chuck and Casey's threatening glare made Chuck slap his hand over his mouth to stifle any more outbursts. So…this was all funny for him, was it? Well the girl was going to be his and Walker's responsibility now, whilst Casey called the agents.

But the little girl wasn't leaving him. She started laughing again and was now dancing and running in a circle around him.

"Stop!" Casey knelt down to the little girl and caught the straps on her dress, holding her in place. The girl still squirmed, thinking it a game and he was playing. "This is Chuck Bartowski. Go with him. He will look after you whilst I call for help."

The girl's jovialness faded and there was that frightened and sad look in her eyes. She shook her head and her little fingers gently touched at Casey's knuckles, stroking over his hand and up his arm.

"Kitty." Her face leaned down and Casey tried not to grimace as she rubbed her cheek over his hand.

"Aw, that is so adorable! She's adopted you!" Chuck positively beamed when the girl kissed Casey's knuckles and grinned with absolute adoration up at the Marine. "Now remember little one, he needs to be fed four or five times a day. He's toilet trained but doesn't like to be cooped up, so you have to let him out every now and then."

The little girl chuckled.

"Oh and he likes to be stroked and hugged. Praise him…. treat him. Tell him is a good kitty."

"Goo kitty!" the girl patted Casey's hand.

The Colonel's temper was barely holding together.

"Bartowski! You say another word and you're in for a whole lot of hurt!"

"Well, it seems the young lady has made up her mind by going with you." Chuck knew that Casey's threat was empty. "I'm going back to my date!"

"The hell you are! We're all going back to your place!"

"But…"

"My apartment has sensitive equipment in it, Bartowski, government property that's not for little…tykes to get their grubby mitts on! Move!"

Casey was pleased to see that Chuck was now taking this seriously. The cocky grin had vanished as he realised his date with Walker was now officially finished. The little girl picked up on Casey's pleasure at that and clapped her hands as he carried her through the archway and towards the apartment.

Walker was not going to be pleased, but Casey gathered that as soon as the kid was out of their hair and put back where she came from, then they would all be happy.

* * *

><p>Casey had been right. Sarah Walker was not pleased at all, but she agreed with Casey they needed to get this child back with her parents, or those she really needed to be with.<p>

So both of them got a very big surprise when instead of a call back from the Agents they had contacted, Beckman herself replied on the video terminal. The General looked extremely concerned, worry was marked all over her face.

"Agents! Do you have the girl?" asked Beckman to Casey and Walker, who were sitting in front of the view screen.

Casey did not have any luck at all keeping the child under control, for just like in the canteen and the storehouse at the Buy More, she ran rings around him. He gave up in the end, but the girl still didn't stop running around the apartment on some kind of sugar high.

"We do, general." Walker replied, loudly over the ear piercing laughter of the little girl.

Chuck was running after her, he was in absolute hysterics as she had somehow got hold of Chewbacca, his priceless figurine. She was scrambling under the tables and furniture, laughing and calling out with such joy that all the adults grimaced at the volume of it.

"Oh thank the heavens!" Beckman allowed a rare smile to form on her usually stern face. "She's safe. Agent Casey, Agent Walker…. that girl is my goddaughter and the daughter to one of the NSA's other top agents. "

Casey had not been expecting that.

"General… we had no idea," he said, looking over to see the tiny thing scamper over to Chuck's DVD and CD collection. With a hefty shove, she pushed them all over, scattering them across the floor. Chuck was beside himself.

"No! Those where alphabetized!" he cried tearing at his hair.

"You were not supposed to know, Colonel. Her name is Annabelle and very dear to me. Her grandfather and I worked together for years and the family is…" Beckman shifted in her chair and there was that worried look again. "Very special. The girl's mother is an undercover agent. I will not go into specifics about the mission, but suffice to say that the father of Annabelle is… someone very dangerous. Since her birth she has been under constant protection. I fear now with Annie showing up at the Buy More… your Buy More, that something has happened to her mother and those who were protecting her."

"Do you want us to investigate, general?" asked Sarah, peering at Chuck trying to put his collection back into order. Beckman shook her head.

"No. I have others already on to this. Knowing that Annabelle is in your care pleases me greatly and I want nothing more than for her to stay with you until this situation is resolved."

"General," Casey shook his head. "I must respectfully request that another team is assigned to look after the child. Babysitting is not my area of expertise… I would feel better heading up the investigation instead."

"Colonel Casey, are you refusing my order?"

"No general, not at all I was just…."

"Good. I understand that this is not your usual mission, but I need you to keep her safe. Will you do this for me?"

"Of course we will, general. You can depend on us," said Walker, smiling to reassure Beckman. It helped, but what made Beckman even more pleased was to see Annie scrambling up onto Casey's lap. Annie began to poke Casey on the chest with Chewbacca.

"Kitty! Play wid me!"

He didn't respond. Casey just clenched his jaw and tried to focus on something else, but that didn't do any good. He knew everyone—with the exception of Chuck—was looking at him and finding this damned scenario so amusing. Annie herself was looking up at him, her mouth hanging open and her eyes blinking in wonderment and hope.

"You can depend on us, general," Casey repeated. Annie bounded up and down on his lap with such joy and she flung her arms across Casey's chest. They weren't long enough to get round him so she just pressed herself hard against him.

"Kitty! Purr purr purr!"

The low rumbling growl was just what she needed and she lulled in it, before turning round and smiling at Beckman. She jumped again, her foot digging a little too close to Casey's privates for his liking and reached a hand out towards Beckman. She obviously recognised her.

"Didan!" The fingers smeared over the screen.

"Hello darling!" Beckman smiled back. "I'm so glad to see you safe! But I need you stay with these people."

"Wid Kitty?"

Beckman smirked and Casey didn't like it when she nodded.

"But darling, you have to behave for Agent Casey… he's not like the others. He's higher in rank… a Colonel. He is a very special agent assigned to a very special little girl so you must do what he tells you. Yes?"

"Cowell Kitty!" Annabelle jumped and flattened herself against Casey's chest for another hug.

"That's lovely, sweetie! Well done! Now you will stay with Casey, Walker and…"

"Chuck Bartowski!" cried the girl, waving Chewbacca at Chuck.

"And yes… Chuck. Stay with them, they will keep you safe from the bad people. Your godmother and grandpa will get your mother back to you."

"Momma…" The girl looked tearful for a moment, afraid, and Casey feared that she was going to start crying. He didn't realise he did it, but his arm wrapped around her and hugged her back.

"We'll keep her safe, general," said Walker. Beckman smiled again, so hopeful and assured that her goddaughter was in good hands. Then she cut the link. "So, we're officially on babysitting duty. I suppose it had to happen one day. Do any of you know how to look after a little girl?"

"It doesn't matter. Casey's the one she wants." Chuck edged closer to the girl and his hand reached out, before snatching back his Chewbacca toy.

It was the wrong thing to have done.

Annie's eyes were swelling up with tears. Her lips were pouting and trembling and Casey could feel her whole body shaking. When her tiny figure could no longer contain all the overwhelming emotions, she let out the loudest and wailing scream ever.

She didn't stop either and he had to put her down off his lap.

"Bartowski! Give her back the doll!" yelled Casey, covering his ears.

"No! This is not a doll! This is a special limited edition… mint condition Chewbacca figurine! It is not for her to chew and drool upon! Morgan will go crazy!"

"I'm going crazy! Give her the damned doll!"

"Chuck! Please!" begged Sarah.

The little girl's face was now red and puffy and covered in tears and running snot. Her voice was shrilling louder and louder and to Casey's mind he thought that shrill tone would break glass. He then decided to act.

He snatched the Chewbacca doll from Chuck and with a palm to the Intersect's face, he shoved him to the floor. Casey then knelt down next to the screaming Annabelle and held out Chewie.

Annie took it, chewed on it and sobbed more. It died down a little, but she was still upset.

"Hey…you're not going to do that again…are you." Casey didn't really tone it as a question or nicely. Annabelle screamed, very loudly right in Casey's face. "Oh jeez! Walker! Make her stop!"

Walker shook her head. "Hey don't look at me! I didn't do anything, it's all you two!"

"She's ruined Chewbacca!" Chuck's whining voice was adding to the piercing wails of Annabelle and Casey's ear ache.

"I don't give a damn, Bartowski! Make her stop crying! She is damaging my brain!"

"I'm supposed to be on a date! This was our night off! Why can't you make her stop?"

Casey felt his eye begin to twitch, his hands balled into fists and Chuck looked really good for some hurt.

The screams of the little girl got so high that it nearly drowned out the sound of the doorbell and the knocks on the door. Casey immediately scooped up the girl in one of his arms and pulled out his gun as Walker went to the door.

Annabelle stopped crying and snuggled against Casey's neck.

When Sarah opened the door, Casey got another shock of his life.

"Ellie?"


End file.
